


Return to Me

by shadowsamurai



Category: Unknown (2011)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-01
Updated: 2012-09-01
Packaged: 2017-11-13 08:21:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/501427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowsamurai/pseuds/shadowsamurai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set sometime after the events of the film, Martin and Gina's relationship begins to change and it isn't necessarily for the better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Return to Me

**Author's Note:**

> Epilogue for the 2011 film 'Unknown' starring Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger.

Disclaimer – I don't own anything, I'm just taking them out for a play and will put them back just as I found them. Well, almost. ;)

M&G-M&G-M&G-M&G-M&G-M&G

He knows the conversation was inevitable, but still he has dreaded it. She is his only real link to the world, those in his memory of his past life all dead. She is his reminder that hope was still possible, and that life was what you made it. But he also knows he could not keep someone as spirited as her forever. The knowledge she could leave any time pains him and it must show on his face because she turns away.

“I'm not saying I will go today, tomorrow, or even this year, Martin,” Gina tells him. “But one day you will find I will have gone. When that happens, please don't look for me.”

Martin takes a deep breath and slowly reaches for her, gently turning her face back towards him. “I promise, Gina.”

Even though they have new IDs now, they are still Martin and Gina to each other, and although Martin is not his real name either, it is the one Gina chooses to use. Both of them still expect Section 15 to turn up at any moment, but months have passed without incident and they are starting to believe in the possibility that they are safe. Martin would, of course, prefer that they stay together longer, to be sure, but he will not force Gina to remain with him if she doesn't want to. He wants to protect her, though he has seen first hand how capable she is of taking care of herself, but he has found himself thinking of her more frequently and realises that somewhere along the line, he has fallen hard for her. He should have told her before, but now he can't, not after she has put out the possibility of her leaving. Just one more mistake he will have to live with.

Gina smiles suddenly, making Martin forget everything except her. “Good. Now, what would you like to eat?”

And that is it. It's never mentioned again. They go about their lives as normal, if what they do could be called normal. It isn't ideal, but neither of them can ever remember anything that came close to that, so it doesn't matter. They have a small apartment, out of the way in a quiet area of town, not much to keep them occupied, but they manage. Martin has taken up meditation, at Gina's urging, and he has also kept up with an exercise regime, just in case any unwanted visitors come knocking at their door. They take turns in cleaning and cooking and shopping, and a host of other mundane domestic tasks, and Martin for one secretly enjoys it all. They discuss moving again, but for the moment decide to stay where they are, especially if Gina was going to leave.... But that is something he forces himself not to think about. The future isn't changed by worrying about; he's definitely learnt that lesson well.

M&G-M&G-M&G-M&G-M&G-M&G

He can't sleep. Another restless, sleepless night in a long line of restless, sleepless nights. Two weeks she has been gone. Two whole weeks; fourteen days, three hundred and thirty six hours, almost twenty thousand minutes. It felt like an eternity to him. A few days after their discussion, she had crawled into his bed in the dead of the night, tucking herself into his side as though she was trying to make herself as small as possible, as though hiding from nightmares. And he had thought that was exactly what the problem was; it would not have been the first time for either of them. But when he woke up the next morning, he was alone, and he knew it didn't just mean she had left his bed; she had left the apartment and his life, and now he finds himself feeling more hollow than ever.

From what Martin knows of his past, he is a man not capable of feeling such deep emotion for another person. Protection over his partner, certainly; that was part of his job. But anything else? It just didn't see to fit with his character. But now he knows differently; he knows he is capable of feeling fear and love because he *is* doing. He misses Gina greatly, and he loves her very much. That was what he wanted to say to her, what he should have told her months ago. She saved his life, more than once and in more than one way: how could he not?

He remembers the fight with the other Martin, who wasn't Martin either...remembers Gina's terrified expression when he killed him. Remembers how she still walked towards him despite her fear and took his hand in hers. Martin remembers touching her face and suddenly relishing the feeling of being *alive*. He remembers slipping out of the ruins of the Hotel Adlon, how Gina cleaned and dressed his wounds before lying them both down to sleep, her head on his chest, her hand over his heart. He remembered how she told him, some time later, that she felt safe with him; that he was solid and real for her, more so than any other man she had ever met. Her admission made him feel warm inside, warmer than he had felt since this whole mess started. And that night, she once again fell asleep on his chest, her hand splayed over the place where his heart rested, as though soothing him, grounding him, keeping him for herself.

Now, as he stares at the dark ceiling, he lets his fingers ghost over his ribs, up his chest, until they come to rest a little to the left of his sternum. But his skin is cold to the touch, his heartbeat shallow. He cannot help but wonder if Gina is in trouble, and then hates himself feeling so helpless. He is a trained assassin...one of the best, apparently. If that's true, then he guesses it is fairly safe to assume he has survived worse than this, which means he can survive this. Only he doesn't want to. The old him...the old him was dead. But now, without her, the new him was also dying, slowly and painfully.

He sits up abruptly, clutching his head and wanting nothing more than to rip the thoughts out of his mind. Suddenly he needs to do something, *anything* to stem the emotions threatening to spill over at any moment. It isn't that he wants to make himself into a robot or let himself forget how to feel, but the only way he can cope with losing her is to suppress everything. So he makes coffee, reads the newspaper, listens to the radio, and cleans through the apartment. Nothing shakes her from his mind. He exercises, tries to meditate, and then, as the pale first rays of sunlight creep over the horizon, he decides to go for a walk.

He gets no further than the front door.

For when he opens it, she was stood there, almost as if waiting for him.

The first thing he notices is how gorgeous she is, though he knows she is tired, can see the strain and stress and worry etched all over her face. But to him she is beautiful, and he doesn't even think, doesn't hesitate at all, before leaning forward and kissing her on the lips, briefly but with purpose. For a moment she stares at him blankly and he wonders if he has just messed everything up. Then she smiles, and the sun pales in comparison.

“I guess that answers that question,” Gina says.

“Which question?” Martin asks, not really caring because all that matters to him in that moment is that she is staying, not leaving again.

Her expression suddenly becomes shy and she looks down at the floor, a motion which makes her even more endearing in his eyes. “I was wondering if I would be welcome back. I thought...I left because of you. I wanted to forget you. But I couldn't.”

He frowns. “What do you mean?”

She looks up, sees the expression on his face and takes an involuntary step back. Despite everything they have been through and the tenderness she knows he is capable of, there is still a ruthlessness in him that shines through on occasion. But before his expression can alter into hurt, she takes two firm steps back forward. “I want more than what we have,” Gina explains. “I want you, but I was scared. Scared that you didn't or wouldn't feel the same way, and just as scared at that you might. I wanted to make a relationship on a good foundation, yet what we have been through....”

“...Makes us closer than any other couple, and that's a good thing,” Martin interrupts, reaching out to caress her cheek. “I want to try; *I* want *you*. I have for a very long time, but I was too scared to say anything. And then...then I thought I'd lost you.”

“I'm sorry.” She kisses the palm of his hand.

“Why, Gina?” he asks. “Why did you tell me not to follow you, not to look for you?”

“I needed the space, Martin, that was all,” she replies. “I needed to know if what I felt for you was real.”

“And did you find your answer?”

She smiles again, her hand snaking around the back of his neck, fingers tangling themselves in his hair as she pulls his head down for a proper kiss. Both as gasping a little when they part, their eyes dark with emotion, but also full of understanding.

“What do you think?” she asks.

It's his turn to smile, and she can't help but think he doesn't do that enough. She makes a silent vow to work on that when his voice interrupts. “I think if we stand here much longer, the neighbours will talk.” He relinquishes all hold on her and stands to one side, gesturing for her to enter the apartment. As she steps over the threshold and he closes the door, his whispers in her ear, “Welcome home.”

FIN


End file.
